tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post7720814491836464206..comments2020-06-05T18:52:04.503-04:00Comments on The Gardening Me: Brightening Things UpMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-62367947122204030492019-12-07T11:26:21.438-05:002019-12-07T11:26:21.438-05:00Unfortunately, you cannot use either of those with...Unfortunately, you cannot use either of those with a T12 fixture by simply swapping out the bulbs. If I recall correctly, I did find a site (I believe someones blog) where they kept the same exterior housing of a shop light but replaced the electrics in order to use T5&#39;s. For me, it was a bit too complicated a process and wouldn&#39;t have solved my light coverage issue. I would suggest googling &quot;how to replace T12 with T5&quot; to see what you come up with. Good luck!Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-10180083985726006932019-12-07T00:06:59.249-05:002019-12-07T00:06:59.249-05:00Stumbled on this trying to update my own 3 tier li...Stumbled on this trying to update my own 3 tier light stand from Lee Valley. I&#39;ve had it more years than I can remember, and don&#39;t think I really understood the limits of the T12 lights. It looks like Lee Valley is now selling the stands with T5 LEDs. I wish they sold the ballast. Do you think I could use T8 or T5 florescent bulbs in the original ballast? Shrinkraphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16188882190736047931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-4988122170706990362018-03-02T11:27:52.298-05:002018-03-02T11:27:52.298-05:00Thanks Caro! I just took a peak at the Ikea growl...Thanks Caro! I just took a peak at the Ikea growlights &amp; they look really promising - I didn&#39;t know they even existed (which I suppose is not a surprise since they aren&#39;t available here yet - we always seem to be a bit behind). You&#39;ll have a TON of fun growing under lights - once you have them, you&#39;ll be wondering how you did without!<br /><br />We have been rather warm lately (for us!) but had quite a snowfall last night so it&#39;s back to white outside.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-47983407789053600462018-03-01T13:10:23.374-05:002018-03-01T13:10:23.374-05:00Your new set up sounds marvellous - or it will be ...Your new set up sounds marvellous - or it will be once that pernickety leak has been plugged! Sadly, I don&#39;t have room for anything like that although I have been wondering about trying some of Ikea&#39;s growlights that were introduced last year. They might let me make a small earlier start on things but otherwise seeds have to wait until I can move the seedlings onto my balcony within a couple of weeks of germination, ie, warmer air! We&#39;re under snow this week, apparently the cold weather will only last one week, so I&#39;m making the most of it and doing a bit of spring cleaning! Good luck in finding the source of the leak, hope it all goes smoothly for you.Carohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11317388242574705433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-35244972281987282582018-02-28T10:01:41.377-05:002018-02-28T10:01:41.377-05:00Thanks Beth :) I love growing from seed - such a ...Thanks Beth :) I love growing from seed - such a feeling of accomplishment! This year, I received a germinated dwarf oak tree seed when I went to a local Master Gardeners meeting. I sowed it as soon as I got home and am so excited to see what comes up!Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-14516903028105248452018-02-28T10:00:28.155-05:002018-02-28T10:00:28.155-05:00Thanks Phuong - yes, it&#39;s a great feeling star...Thanks Phuong - yes, it&#39;s a great feeling starting seedlings (and seeing those started by others), especially when we are still in the midst of winter.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-87108137696859431282018-02-28T09:59:42.333-05:002018-02-28T09:59:42.333-05:00Thanks so much for the encouraging words - you hav...Thanks so much for the encouraging words - you have made me all the more excited to see a big :) change in my seedlings this year.<br /><br />Yes, I am using Reflectix - when I saw your post on that, I thought - what a great idea! - and then immediately added it to my shopping list. I had taped them directly to the plastic insulation barrier but I had to take them down when I removed the insulation during my leak inspection. I like the foam board idea - I think I&#39;ll do that. I&#39;ve been offline for a few weeks, so I don&#39;t think I caught your post on LED&#39;s - I&#39;ll be giving it a read today.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-76962873961711468562018-02-28T09:53:50.369-05:002018-02-28T09:53:50.369-05:00Oh, you will have so much fun when you do!!Oh, you will have so much fun when you do!!Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-27460451210809140432018-02-27T21:26:33.570-05:002018-02-27T21:26:33.570-05:00Wow, you are a true professional! It&#39;s wonderf...Wow, you are a true professional! It&#39;s wonderful that you grow almost everything from seed. I&#39;ve been doing more of that during the past few years, but I need to step up! Your new blog name and design are wonderful, by the way!Beth at PlantPostingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10473637655960119672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-34903263733804180282018-02-27T20:54:40.391-05:002018-02-27T20:54:40.391-05:00That&#39;s a fantastic setup, you&#39;ll have so m...That&#39;s a fantastic setup, you&#39;ll have so much room now. And your onion seedlings look like they&#39;re off to a great start. Seeing everyone start their seeds makes it feel like spring is just around the corner.Phuonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07658691564062044986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-10326431525755962502018-02-27T11:34:24.010-05:002018-02-27T11:34:24.010-05:00I went through the same thing as you, doing the pl...I went through the same thing as you, doing the plant shuffle from outdoors to indoors because there wasn&#39;t enough space under the lights. I also started with a 4 foot shoplight with 2 T8 bulbs, a slight improvement over the T12, and they just weren&#39;t up to the job. The light was modified to hold 4 bulbs and 2 of them were GroLux - a vast improvement. Still the bulbs, especially the GroLux, lost effectiveness after a year. This light unit is a vast improvement. Just in wattage alone, you are going from 2 40W bulbs to 6 54W bulbs. With the increased efficiency you are probably looking at about 5 to 6 times as much PAR (photosynthetically active radiation). That&#39;s a huge step up and you should have no problem putting 5 trays, if you can fit them, side by side, and raising the light high enough to cover all of them. You may even be able to shorten the time they are on by several hours.<br />It looks lke you are using Reflectix for reflecting the light back. I tape it to foam panels or cardboard to make removable panels. A few weeks ago I posted about the LED lights and photosynthesis, don&#39;t know if you caught that, but you might find some of the info useful. I know this setup will be a vast improvement over the old T12&#39;s, you should see a huge difference in the seedlings. gardenvariety-hoosierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02823437033502199023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-63830420406312850672018-02-27T10:43:51.051-05:002018-02-27T10:43:51.051-05:00What a great set up! I swear, first thing I do aft...What a great set up! I swear, first thing I do after I retire (not that I&#39;m counting the days) is buy some grow lights. Jasonhttp://gardeninacity.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-72195685305083719202018-02-27T09:38:27.072-05:002018-02-27T09:38:27.072-05:00The leak has delayed things but I&#39;m hoping to ...The leak has delayed things but I&#39;m hoping to catch up today, even though that area of the basement is still in disarray.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-19150663600556981202018-02-27T09:37:28.732-05:002018-02-27T09:37:28.732-05:00Thanks Tammy :) So far I only have the alliums st...Thanks Tammy :) So far I only have the alliums started, but today I&#39;m getting to the peppers, eggplant &amp; yet another variety of Echinacea.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-42372061541386764642018-02-27T05:03:29.835-05:002018-02-27T05:03:29.835-05:00We have some growing lights in the house that we n...We have some growing lights in the house that we need to get sorted out so we can make a start too. Sue Garretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164518448098182276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-42713500355032990952018-02-26T21:52:22.881-05:002018-02-26T21:52:22.881-05:00Love the new light set up! My basement is full of ...Love the new light set up! My basement is full of lights, too. So glad the leak didn&#39;t damage everything. What are you growing? Casa Mariposahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647089868277238456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-23691891509262625982018-02-26T20:02:36.947-05:002018-02-26T20:02:36.947-05:00Thanks Michelle :) I&#39;m so excited to use the ...Thanks Michelle :) I&#39;m so excited to use the new setup &amp; it will be interesting to see if it makes a noticable difference in how the seedlings do. The dang leak certainly has dampened my enthusiasm, though. We had some water seepage a few years ago that simply involved injecting something into the concrete (which was exposed as well, so no drywall to deal with). I somehow doubt that the fix will be that easy this time round.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-71409213584838282742018-02-26T20:00:38.045-05:002018-02-26T20:00:38.045-05:00Thanks Nancy - maybe you can &quot;borrow&quot; yo...Thanks Nancy - maybe you can &quot;borrow&quot; your grow lights back in the spring ;) I hope that this leak is resolved relatively painlessly too although I have a feeling that it&#39;s going to be a right pain, both in terms of the mess and in the pocketbook.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-41847094924529759462018-02-26T19:59:40.181-05:002018-02-26T19:59:40.181-05:00Well, I&#39;ll definitely let you know how things ...Well, I&#39;ll definitely let you know how things work out with the T5&#39;s - the specs sound great, but we&#39;ll have to wait and see if the actual results are any different. At the very least, I won&#39;t feel guilty about using them year after year without replacing them ;) Everyone I&#39;ve talked too seems to have had some experience with a leaky basement - but it&#39;s something you don&#39;t really think about until it actually happens. I&#39;m hoping we can get this dealt with quickly - the fact that I&#39;m a bit of a pack rat &amp; there is a ton of stuff down there certainly doesn&#39;t help matters!Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-9081757514356689412018-02-26T19:53:17.036-05:002018-02-26T19:53:17.036-05:00Thanks Donna - seeing that bit of green pop out of...Thanks Donna - seeing that bit of green pop out of the soil never fails to excite! So many things were ruined in that first house, simply because they were stored in cardboard boxes. Well, at least I learned my lesson - my parents had a similar incident but they continued to keep their stuff in cardboard (and they did end up regretting it!)Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-86619172439553512052018-02-26T19:48:28.372-05:002018-02-26T19:48:28.372-05:00So true - I was just thinking that this morning......So true - I was just thinking that this morning...just when you think things are going well, you get hit with a curve ball. I do hope the leak is relatively easy to find and resolve - I&#39;m actually thankful that our issue is only water. A neighbour had their septic system back up into the basement this past fall - what a disaster that was!Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15949946977793864054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-61295876163100760742018-02-26T19:44:55.421-05:002018-02-26T19:44:55.421-05:00Wow, that&#39;s a fabulous new light setup! 10 tra...Wow, that&#39;s a fabulous new light setup! 10 trays is a lot of seedlings. You&#39;re off to a great start to the new gardening year. <br /><br />I can commiserate with the water issue. We don&#39;t have a basement but we do have large area in part of our crawl space where I keep some things for the garden. We had a pipe leak a while back and I didn&#39;t figure it out for at least a couple of weeks until the water had migrated from the area of the leak to the space where I kept things. What a mess. I hope your fix turns out to be an easy one! Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07812702328134261533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-12236935525908926972018-02-26T18:55:35.486-05:002018-02-26T18:55:35.486-05:00Hi! It is great to read a blog report from yu! Y...Hi! It is great to read a blog report from yu! Your new grow lights are just wonderful! I gave my small little set up away when we moved here. Now I am wondering if I should have done that! LOL In our house in Michigan we had a water leak. Nothing worse than that and hope you can get it taken care of with little effort and cost. Nancy Cozy Thyme Cottagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03933769393226611441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-60467874751908296972018-02-26T14:27:16.762-05:002018-02-26T14:27:16.762-05:00I&#39;m still using T-12s for most of my seed star...I&#39;m still using T-12s for most of my seed starting activities. I haven&#39;t yet figured out a way to retrofit the T-5 units to my stand. I am somewhat lax about changing the bulbs too, though the seedlings haven&#39;t seemed to mind too much. I do hope you get the basement water situation figured out. Like you, we learned to put things in plastic storage bins too. We have water in the basement now due to all the rain, but it&#39;s not that bad and is draining away. Dave @ HappyAcreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03441364543023807886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2884216770926932676.post-16462521180221927532018-02-26T13:41:43.454-05:002018-02-26T13:41:43.454-05:00Oh Margaret sorry to hear about your leak....most ...Oh Margaret sorry to hear about your leak....most frustrating and I have learned the hard way about storage too. I enjoyed learning about your new lights and am always fascinated with how folks start seeds indoors.Donna@GardensEyeViewhttp://gardenseyeview.comnoreply@blogger.com